Method and apparatus for correlation sonar

Abstract

A correlation SONAR that provides improved velocity estimates due to a reduction in random and bias errors is disclosed. Rather than basing the velocity estimate on a single set of primary receiver pairs, one or more additional velocity estimates are generated based on one or more available receiver pair sets having the same velocity vectors as the primary receiver pairs set. Additional velocity estimates also provide a reliability and accuracy improvement by enabling identification and subsequent elimination of erroneous velocity estimates.

Description

STATEMENT OF RELATED CASES [0001] This case claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60 / 690,881, filed Jun. 15, 2005, which is incorporated by reference herein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to velocity measurement systems. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] There are a number of benefits to being able to accurately estimate the velocity of a sea-faring vessel. One is that an accurate estimation of velocity results in improved estimates of ship's position (when those estimates are velocity-based) for submerged vehicles (e.g., submarines, AUVs, UUVs, etc.). This is particularly important for submerged vehicles for which Global Positioning System (GPS) fixes are not available or otherwise kept to a minimum to maintain ship's covertness. Another benefit is that it improves the accuracy of certain on-board missile-delivery systems that employ a technique to obtain a velocity fix, which is then provided as initialization data to the missile befo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The present invention provides a way to improve the accuracy of velocity estimates from correlation SONAR. The improvement in accuracy is due to a reduction in bias and

Problems solved by technology

That is, even if a redundant pairing represents the same ship's velocity vector as a primary pairing, there are physical diffe

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